Caught In Between
by Nom de blooms
Summary: Did Beka and Rosto ever guess how annoying being stuck in the middle could get?


**Please R&R! This is my first story, so I'd love any and all feedback!**

**DISCLAIMER: Sadly, I am not awesome enough to wield the name Tamora Pierce...-cries in a corner- Howev', the characters who haven't appeared in Tammy's books are mine, so please don't take 'em...**

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_Sometimes, I really hate my family. My ma, the Dog, always trying to get me to do what's right; my da, the Rogue, always wanting me to try my hand at thievery; my brother, the Puppy, always looking down at me for not wearing white trim on my sleeves; and my sister, the Rusher, always mad at me for not being her partner-in-crime. And I'm the only different one, too; my siblings, Riley and Shea, both 'ave my dad's white-blond hair, and my ma's grey eyes, and I have dark hair, darker than ma's, and da's black eyes. Plus, they're both turning seventeen in nigh a month, whilst I'm barely thirteen. And I decided I wanted a break from it all. So, off I went to Port Caynn with Aniki to do trading business. I found out I was really good a bartering: I made _seven gold nobles_, not to mention all of the coppers and silvers in my pocket. I was going to get myself a cat, but decided against it, mainly because I figured Pounce'd be mad at me for that. And he was - he was mad at the very idea, which is why I got into this _particular _mess to begin with. _

Running as fast as I could, the buildings lining the alleyway become a blur. "Pounce! Give it back!" I yell, desperately chasing the little black demon. He looks back at me for a moment, his purple eyes glowing brightly. He _mrts_ at me in an amused way, taunting me with the charm he's holding, or rather, stealing. "Come on! I need that!" The cat swerves around a corner, slipping a little as he did so. Still running at full speed, I tried to make the turn. Tried. I ended up tripping over my own feet and crashing into a wall. "Ow." Moaning, I sit up, rubbing my head where it contacted with the bricks, meaning…everywhere.

"I hate you Pounce. This is unforgivable." Meowing, he worms up to me and onto my lap.

_It didn't hurt _that _much…did it?_He purrs in my ear like a nice little kitty-cat. I glare at my best friend.

"You know what? When I get home, I'm gonna ask my ma to make me some cat stew. What do you think o' that, you looby?"

_Gixie, you know Beka wouldn't make me into supper. _He gazes at me, looking totally serious and like a class clown at the same time. _She loves me just as much as you. _

"You wish," I mutter. He cat-grins, then drops my charm into my lap.

_Feel better now, Lark?_ Pounce looks at me, almost apologetically; I say almost because he's still smirking in the most annoying way. Sighing, I pick up my charm. Holding it up in the half-light, I inspect the little metal pigeon. The brass shines a brightly for a moment when I touch the wings; that means the magic Kora helped me bind to it is still intact. Letting out a gust of air in relief, I pull its cord up and around my head. And it goes quiet. All the people, all the ghosts who are always talking to me, are blocked out. I hold tight to the charm, savoring the silence. Well, silence of a type, for just then Verena decides to yell curst bloody murder in my ear. I jump up, and Verena dodges my punch by neatly jumping to the side ever so slightly. Instead of getting her in the gut, I end up with my arm pinned to her side. Grinning mercilessly, she twists it to the side sharply. I yelp, and kick out, knocking her off her feet.

She lets go of my arm, and lands on her rump. As she stands up, I raise my hand to give her a good whack on the nob. However, someone else's hand grabs mine from behind, effectively stopping my attack. I spin around, prepared to hit _them_. Until I see who it is, that is. It's Anya; one o' my brother's training Dogs. In the back of my mind, I briefly wonder where Riley is, acos my brother would never dare miss a Watch unless he was on hios death-bed, though I doubt that's why he's gone. Anya doesn't seem in the least bit upset; she's just looking at me with light green glims, a strand of her hair in her face. I glance next to me at Verena, and see that Bairre, Anya's partner, is standing with her. She's not looking at him, though; she's full out glaring the red-headed mot holding onto me. Sighing, I twist my wrist in a vain attempt to free myself from Anya's grasp. "OK, I get it; no more pointless fighting. It'll just get me looking like a drunken mumper."

"That's not why we're here, gixie." She's watching me carefully, and it's making me feel like a scut. "We just wanted to know why there was a'screaming down the alleyway. We were hoping for something interesting, but it's just you two jinglenobs, at each other's throats, _again_." I look down at that, embarrassed.

"We wasn't at each other's throats," I mumble.

"We was just playin'," Verena chimes in. I look up at her in time to see Bairre's face slip into a grin. He sees me watching him, and instantly hardens.

"Lark," Anya begins, looking at me sadly. "Where have you been?" My eyes fall towards the ground again.

"Um, I went to, uh," I search my brain for a good lie, like kidnapping or amnesia. I can't come up with anything believable; I would have had to been playin' it fra' the beginning. "Port Caynn?" Somehow it comes out like a question. I shake my head, and then try again. "I was in Port Caynn, with Aniki." Anya opens her mouth to say sommat, but Bairre shakes his head.

"Anya, I've got an idea," he says, grinning in a way that tells me his idea won't be to my benefit. "Why don't we let Cooper's own Ma handle this?" _Please no,_I beg silently in my head. Anya looks at me, and then at Bairre. I watch as an evil smile forms on her lips, similar to the one the big blonde meanie's wearing. To think, Bairre's got an adorable lil' smirk plastered on his face! The cove never would have been smirking at me like tha' afore he started courtin' Marki. That gixie'll do anything to get her claws inta me, all acos I said I'd rather not become her apprentice in the art of stitchery, thank you kindly for the offer. Mithros, the reason I said 'no' was acos I knew Krysia had her eye on this title; she'll always playing wi' her threads and her beads makin' all sorts o' pretty things. Besides, a mot like Marki ought to know that a gixie (or a cove) can decide what they wants to do fra' a livin' in this here Lower City, and I happen to not want to become a seamstress.

Anyhow, Verena is forgotten, so the pert gixie decides to discover her fate. "What about Verena, though?" She starts talking as if she wasn't here. Grinning, she carries on in a slightly different voice: "Well, I don't know! How about we let her go with a warning, and not tell her Dathat she was gettin her ticklers inta any throuble again?" She looks up, hopeful.

Anya rolls her eyes at her, but nods. "Ok, gixies – you have ten seconds to vanish, got it? One, two, three…" We don't stick around to hear her finish.

We run down a couple of alleys and back streets, and then slow to a walk. As soon as I'm sure we're safe, I let out a big gust of air. I send a little prayer to the Goddess, thanking her that it wasn't my Ma who found us. Then I turn to Verena. "What were you doing?" I hiss. Seeing as we've been best friends since we were littlies, I know that she 'as no reason to go a-picking fights wi' me, let alone fights around one o' the Kennels. I tap my foot, waiting until finally she just shrugs her shoulders.

"I didn't see you. I was just coming here to let off some steam, is all."

"Sure," I glare at her. Then it dawns on me. "Where'd Pounce go? He was here a moment ago." Me an' Verena search for a few minutes, and then decide he must've gone back to my Ma's. "Wanna head to the Dove, see if Cook has anything tasty to eat?" I grin at Verena, all hostility gone. She shoots me a grin of her own, and nods.

"Sure. But first, I want to stop by my house. These breeches are covered in muck." We run to the cottage-looking house where Verena and her family live. When we get there, I spy Krysia heading out. I nod at Verena to let her know I'll wait here while she changes. Krysia waits till her sister is inside, and then runs towards me.

"I'm so glad you're back! I've missed you a lot," Krysia smiles at me. "Did you know that while you were gone, Cheer got herself another cove?" That's surprising, especially to me.

"Really? I can't believe that there are that many ducknobbed spintries around here," I laugh, only a little girlishly. Krysia smiles, showing off all of her teeth.

"That's not all. Shea apparently had her eye on this guy, so WHAM! Punched Cheer in the face. Broke the gixie's nose, she did. Some teeth went missing as well." I beam at the brunette, proud. "Your sister's crazy, when it comes to her coves," Krysia giggles.

"Yup." We keep on talking, gossiping about what happened when I was in Port Caynn. Eventually, I get the courage to ask what my Ma did when I left.

Krysia just sits for a minute, then says, "I think you should fake kidnapping."

I grimace. "That bad, huh?"

_Of course it was that bad. You know how much Beka cares about you. She had all the Dogs looking for you for days. _I look around, trying to see the annoying constellation cat. His purple eyes give him away in the shadows. I swoop down on him and pull him into my lap. Pounce struggles and quickly escapes my light hold. _I agree with your friend; you need a good excuse, _he meows._ And if you'll excuse me, I'll be going home for a nice, long nap. _I look after him as he trots off. Verena taps me on the shoulder. I look up at her, and see that she's wearing the green breeches I got her for a present on her last birthday. They hug her legs, showing off her muscles.

"Ready to go? I want to get going before any more of my siblings show up." She looks at Krysia pointedly.

The other girl sighs and smiles, then stands up. "Well, if you guys don't mind, I wanna come with you. Cavan said my shipment should be in by today." Verena looks at me, and I nod. She sighs dramatically. I pull a strand of dark blonde hair. She glares at me. Krysia laughs and I pull some of _her _hair. She tries to say ow, but she keeps cracking up at sommot; probably her sisters expression.

I roll my eyes. "You know, for twins, you two are really different."

Verena sighs, her way of tellin' me to shut my gob."Do you wanna get gone or what?" She asks. I grin at my best friend, and our trio sets off.

*****

When we arrive at the Dove, our easy conversation stops; the two Westover girls look at me. I look back, measuring first the blue eyes of Verena, then the green of Krysia. I move in close to them, and whisper, "Could you go in, see if either of my parents are there?"

They nod and step inside, only to reappear seconds later. "You're clear, Lark." I grin, and we enter the Dancing Dove. It's packed tonight, full of vaguely familiar faces, and lots of drunks. We weave through the crowd until we get to the counter. A tall man is standing behind the counter, and he turns around when we call.

"Hey Dale. (For some reason, Ma has always hated Dale...)Can we have some barley water?" Dale raises his eyebrows when he realizes who I am, but he doesn't say anythin'; he was maimed years ago...poor cove lost 'is tongue. Therefore he simply turns around and gets the drinks. As soon as Krysia has hers, she's off to go flirt with some cute cove. Me'n Verena sit in silence for a while. Finally, I turn towards her, a question on my very own, very-much attached tongue. "Why are you so mad at Anya? You were glaring daggers at her today." She looks at me, and then looks down. She mumbles sommot, but I don't catch it. "What was tha'? I dinna hear you."

Verena rolls her eyes, and says, "She caught me breaking into the Bakers; told my parents. And you know my Da – he freaked. Ma was sorta proud though." I grin at her, and we fall into back into the simple pattern that is a conversation between to teenage girls who've begun to notice just about all the coves in town. Suddenly, the atmosphere changes; I turn around, and spot my ma prowling through the doors.

"Crap," I whimper, and slide down in my chair.

Beka's wearing her full uniform, baton and all. She has her partner, Tunstall, by her side, and Anya and Bairre behind them. Her grey eyes dart around the room, and land on the platform where the Rouge usually sits. I turn and look where she's staring. My stomach drops. My Da's standing there, with a couple of slashes on his face. He meets Ma's eyes, and sighs. Frowning, Beka walks through the crowd, and up onto the platform. She and Da start talking, and Ma points to the two younger Dogs. Rosto looks at them, and starts asking them questions. I watch their lips move, and see my name and Verena's appear at least twice. "I gotta get outta here." I turn towards Verena, my eyes showing my panic. I move to leave, to hide, but I can feel eyes on my back. _Too late,_Pounce purrs from somewhere. I turn slowly towards the platform. Both Ma and Da are watching me, anger in their eyes.

Rosto snaps his fingers and some Rusher comes up from behind me, grabs my arm, and starts towing me towards my parents. I turn to see who's got me, and spot none other than my sister Shea. She grins at me, her fair hair gleaming in the light. "Sorry, sis'," she whispers as she pushes me to the platform.

I look up at me parents, and cringe at the look Ma's giving me. Da takes a step closer, and I stare into the depths of his black eyes. He opens his mouth to say something, and what he says is simple: my name."Lark."

I feel nervous as I walk towards my parents and as I watch, they become different people - scarier people. My Ma's face flushes with anger, her eyes burning into mine as they boil with rage. My father, however, he scares me more. His face withdraws, his eyes go cold and flat, freezing me with disappointment. As I slink closer, I see them as who they are to others: my Ma, a fierce Dog worthy of her many titles as Terrier, Bloodhound, and Mastiff; my Da, hard as flint and sharp as steel, the Rogue of Corus. My eyes widen as it hits me – I don't know who my parents are, not at all. And I certainly don't know how far they'd go for a punishment.

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KrisEleven, thank you for mentioning that. -sad smile- I fixed it...I think.


End file.
